When one is quite young, there are some things that leave a lasting impression. Perhaps it was the first car you ever drove or that girl who, well, you know. It leaves an impression that always stays with you.

One of mine was a long time ago. I had traveled the 20 miles to the Chrysler-Plymouth dealer with my father as the ’78 Volare needed some warranty work done. While that isn’t what left the impression (this wasn’t an infrequent occurrence), what did was the woman I met at the dealership. She owned the place and really took a shining to me – I was about 8 years old. She asked my father if I could take a ride with her. We then got in her Chrysler wagon and went across town to fetch her daughter-in-law so they could both come back and see a brand new, just delivered Dodge conversion van.

Being black inside and out, with some type of then cool and now garish graphics, it left an impression on me. Thirty years later, I still remember it well.

This event prompted conversion vans to leave an impression on me. Unlike the girl that, you know, my thoughts about conversion vans have been a mixed bag.

We had a true and unusual need to buy a large vehicle for a cross-continental trip in 2010. My wife, ever the automotive hunter, found and bought ours from a couple in their 70’s who used it as a fun-mobile. A 2000 Ford E-150, upfitted by Osage Conversions, it had 89,000 miles and was equipped with a 5.4 liter V8; that’s 330 cubic inches for those who think in English units.

Our itinerary coincided with our being in South Dakota during the height of the Sturgis 75th Anniversary Celebration. If I thought Buick Century’s were plentiful in Missouri, they can’t hold a candle to Harley’s in South Dakota during August. We slept in the van two nights in a row due to the few available hotel rooms being 10% of what I paid for the van.

It is understandable why conversion vans have enjoyed popularity. Enjoyed is intentionally past tense as while sales were 200,000 annually as recently as 1994, sales of these vehicles are currently in the range of 20,000 sales annually. Sales of conversion vans have given way to sales of SUV’s and crew cab pickups. Another potential factor is the safety concern of these rigs, as upfitting generally involves installation of large portrait windows and raised roofs. The raised roof versions have long been a source of scrutiny as a simple google search for “conversion van safety” found a multitude of articles with various horror stories.

There have been many moments I have questioned the sanity of having such a vehicle. They are hard to work on as my changing the spark plugs required a lot of contortion from both inside and outside the vehicle. The barn doors on the back create obstacles in loading large objects, like an automatic transmission. Handling is not its forte, nor is visibility. The three times in my life I have backed into things was while driving a full-size van.

On the flip-side, it’s on a pickup chassis, so it will pull whatever I need it to pull. It is highly comfortable with our white Ford having Flexsteel produced seats. It isn’t as hard on fuel as one might think given its bulk. Parts are cheap. Finding its twin in a parking lot simply will not happen, unlike those who drive silver Camrys or white Impalas.

In addition to the impressionable moments we have all had, there are also teachable moments in life. Recently I took my wife to St. Louis for a homeschool conference. Conversion vans were out in force, some of which are pictured here. From looking around the lot, I discovered two things. First, I had the only crew cab pickup on the lot (the irony of this and the loss of conversion van sales wasn’t lost on me). Second, as some homeschooling families tend to have more than the average 2.3 children, practicality enters into the equation for them. What is reliable, moves a lot of people in comfort, is plentiful, and doesn’t break the bank to purchase and maintain? A conversion van.

Despite my mixed feeling on these critters, I have concluded conversion vans are like light beer or diet soda. There is a place for them yet they simply aren’t for everyone as not everyone will have a taste for them. But if you have a need or taste, you might just wonder how you ever got by without it.

31 Comments

These vans are great for long trips and can do a lot of things but I want to talk about the fuel economy thing here. If you go out and pay like $3000 for a van conversion (and that $3k will probably get you a good one) that is in any way decent shape, how much gas it uses is immaterial. Three grand is the sales tax on a Prius (a lot less here, actually). Three grand is a lot less than the first day’s depreciation on said Prius. So yes, the Prius gets waaaay better fuel economy than the van but the Prius has an enormously higher total cost of operation, at least in the first ten years, and who keeps a car ten years? Only your weird old auntie keeps a car ten years. And Paul but I don’t think he is weird, or any more weird than I am.

On the other hand, if I want to buy a $3000 car, I am in beatersville pretty fast and beaters mean wrenching. So, my Grand Am get better fuel economy than my van, when I have to do an intake gasket and it costs $1300, any fuel economy advantages is blown for the life of the car. But $3000 will get you a surprisingly good van conversion because idiot people are scared away from them because they only get 20 mpg on the highway.

I do a lot of driving and quite often I hear people tell me, “Maybe you should get a hybrid to save yerself some money on gas!” Yup, that makes a whole lot of sense. Sure, an Acura TL isn’t the most economical thing on gas but I only paid $9000 for it with 66,000 km on the clock. I had two years of driving with only oil changes. So what if it gets 20 mpg in the city (not bad for a car of this performance, actually), there is no way that I am going to see any savings from a hybrid slug that does 0-60 in a week.

Gas is the cheapest thing around, even at the $6.00 a gallon I am paying for premium.

And if you compare a big van to a minivan, the difference is about 3 mpg, either city or highway. Not a lot of difference, so if you can buy an older conversion van cheap enough, there is really not much reason to get hung up on the mpgs.

That’s true and if you get to a point in your life when you can buy an older low mile well cared for conversion van outright it makes a good extra vehicle for simply long distance travel. My father always wanted (during my childhood) to go buy a conversion van or a Town Car or a Fleetwood just to keep for racking up the miles. He didn’t have that sort of income to play with until us kids were long gone however so instead he bought a small motorhome from an elderly gentelman who didn’t need it anymore.

Very good point about fuel mileage. I threw it in as numerous people seem to think that 12 mpg is as good as it gets in these rigs. The white one at the top is mine. When I drove it from NE Missouri to Bend, Oregon, and back, it averaged almost 18 mpg, with a high of 19.5 mpg. Had it not been loaded to the gills, nor had 5 people in it on the way back, it would have done even better. Daily use is around 15 or 16 mpg. About the same as any SUV, if not a bit better.

I did some figuring and at 12,000 miles per year, gas would have to break $5.50 per gallon for it to be cheaper to buy a $20,000 car. And I spent about 1/4 that amount to buy this vehicle.

Your figures are in fact low. Maybe if you just calculate the cost of fuel then the $20,000 car would be cheaper at $5.50 a gallon but when you calculate depreciation, which would be at the very least $4000 in the first year of that $20,000 car, gas would have to be somewhere about $12 a gallon.

Annual fuel cost @25 mpg @ $4.00 per gallon $1920 (12,000 mi/yr)

Annual fuel cost @ 15 mpg@ $4.00 per gallon $3200 (12,000 mi/yr)

Savings $1280

At $5.50 per gallon that works out to $2640 and $4400. You are still way ahead on the van.

At $10.00 per gallon you are at $4800 and $8000. You are STILL ahead on the van!!!

I had a Honda once that was a lemon. The only reason that is worth mentioning is that I traded an extended E150 with the 300 six for the pos Honda. The engine was new so that made it a double tragedy. I had just become a teacher and was traveling 100 miles per day.

Looking back I couldn’t agree with you more. Should have driven the Ford until the wheels fell off. I’m pretty sure the engine would have still been working and getting over 17mpg. That was the default mileage when it wasn’t loaded.

These vehicles had their purpose and were incredibly comfortable for long trips. I had friends who owned them (at close to $30K in 1985 dollars!) and sitting in the rotating, reclining captain’s chairs in the second row couldn’t be beat, while we watched a movie on the built-in TV with VCR. Once they switched to an overdrive automatic transmission with locking torque converter along with a fuel-injected engine, fuel economy was surprisingly good for such a large vehicle as mentioned above.

And no need to mention the seat that converted into a bed in the back either . . . ;<)

Before my pickup truck, my previous daily driver was a 1984 GMC 3/4 ton van. It wasn’t a true conversion van, but as close as you could order directly from the dealer: Full interior with carpet and automotive-style vinyl and cloth padded panels, tinted windows all around, power windows up-front and power door locks. Two captain’s chairs up front and two bench seats in back meant comfortable seating for up to 8 people, with lots of cargo room in the back. The rear-most bench seat folded down into a queensize bed which was great for camping trips. Unlike most conversion vans, it had the GM 6.2L V8 diesel, which got mid-20s MPG. It was very reliable but gutless, and the engine was heavy and contributed to the van being rather wallowy and occasionally scary to drive.

I didn’t want to get rid of it, but by 2000 it was clear that the body was too far gone to ever actually look good again (I had already replaced all the doors which had rotted-out and welded in a new floor), and the “little jobs” to keep it roadworthy were consuming an ever-larger share of my time. In retrospect, I was finished school, gainfully employed and single by that time, and the van surely wasn’t helping my image with the ladies either.

I bought my pickup truck in the fall, threw some more rad stop-leak in the van’s cooling system and used it as a winter beater just to commute to work. It became a parts truck for my dad’s 88 Suburban (also 6.2L diesel) the following spring.

I don’t think I’d want another identical van, but if GM put a diesel in the fullsize van or Suburban again I’d give it a long look. The complexity of modern diesels and their emissions control systems worries me though.

This van is from rust free Oregon and features the best motor Ford (or anybody, really) ever built, the 300 Six, with EFI and OD transmission. If you could look past the horrid upholstery, it would make a fantastic roadtrip mobile. I am sure $3500 would take it away.

Really any year 2v Modular is going to be fine. The only issue was some of the early “PI” heads blowing out spark plugs and if it was going to be due to improperly cut threads it would have done it and been repaired by now. The other reason they can blow plugs is due to someone over-torquing them when replacing them and that isn’t really related to the year of the vehicle.

The 4.6 really is the engine you want, if you want one that new. The 4.2 won’t save you any real money on fuel and if you load it heavily it can use more.

The 300 does not get as good MPG as the 302, lightly loaded, so unless you really need an older rig that will go 300K it isn’t worth messing with, plus if you want a rig that will rack up that kind of mileage you really want one new enough to get the modular anyway as they finally just get fully broke in at 300K.

I’ll contest the 300 vs 302, as I had two almost identical pickups – both 1992 F-150s, a Custom with a 300, long bed and 5-speed, and a XLT with a shortbox 302 and auto. The 300 handily beat the 302 mileage wise unloaded or towing my 16 foot Lund.

Granted the 302 definitely had more power, but the (EFI at least) 300 was the mileage king.

Sure if you want to compare a strippo 5sp truck to a loaded one with a slush box the 300 will win but if you back them with the same transmission, rear axle gearing and same generation fuel delivery, the 300 will not get any better MPG and often it will get worse.

We’re in the market for a new family/wife vehicle and man oh man I’d like to get a conversion van for a number of reasons. Right now we have a ’00 (or 99?) Plymouth Grand Voyager with a 3.8 so if anything, we will see an improvement in mileage. My wife is dead set on a Suburban or Expedition and while I understand the logic (4wd) in the potentially frozen midwest, I’m going to start lobbying hard for a E-150 conversion.

Granted I “get” the logic behind the 4wd, but at the same time we could get a comprable E-150 coversion for half the price of a Expedition or Suburban, and then spend maybe another $1,000 on winter wheels and tires. I also understand they still aren’t popular which honestly blows my mind, when we were teenagers and the parents had two “toys” (Mazda 626ES and regular cab F-150), we always rented a E-150 Conversion for vacations, and they were awesome.

LOL, yup! I recall one of the E-150’s we rented we took through a classic North Dakota snowstorm on a winter “vacation”, and it handled it just fine. In fact Dad commented a couple of times how impressed he was with it – and that was in the mid 90’s, so well before modern all season tires or even snow tires.

Heck prior to my most recent vehicle I had 2wd F-150’s that made it through anything mother nature could throw at them. I always just kept good quality all terrain tires on them, and had plenty of weight in the back.

I’ll have to disagree that the electric beds are heavy, the ones I’ve dealt with are actually lighter than the factory Ford benches.

As to the delemma of convincing the wife to go for the conversion van this is what you do. Do a little pre-shopping and find an Sexpedtion or 2 and a Conversion van or 2. Let the Station wagons be ones w/o the rear seat entertainment system and near the max you are planning on spending. Then find a conversion van that is near 1/2 the price and 1/2 the miles with the DVD system. Make sure the test drive includes trying to park both in standard parking spots so she sees how much easier the van is to park due to the much better front end visibility and the greater steering angle due to not having to put driving force through the axle.

Then when all is said and done tell her with the $x saved we can take a vacation somewhere she wants to go, buy some fancy/expensive jewelry, shoes, purses or what ever it is that does it for her with some of that savings. Then explain to her that there will also be extra money each month due to the better fuel economy and way lower insurance cost (get quotes for both if need be).

My 94 Club Wagon with ABS and the Traction Lock axle was the best snow car I ever owned. Very well balanced, and with decent all-weather Michelins, took me everywhere I had any business going in central Indiana for quite a few years.

Get a set of four Blizzaks on dedicated rims and that heavy van will do well. You don’t have really steep hills or mountain passes like we do in the Pacific Northwest, so you should be fine with good snow tires.

I remember that conversion vans were everywhere in the midwest back in the 1980’s, and they were basicly a family room on wheels. Lots of space and great for road trips, tailgating, or initiating teenage pregnancies.

However, they fell out of favor because they were a beast to drive in everyday use since they handled like a bread truck, were hard to park, had tiny footwells, and the high floor and huge side door made entering and exiting a chore. Not a good daily driver, especially for moms hauling kids. Older guys seem to like them but that seems to be about it.

On a personal note no vehicle seems more creepy than a ratted out conversion van. To me they llook like the lair of a child molester, a rolling meth lab, or both. The drivers seem to be even creepier than the van. YMMV.

I should have mentioned that the Elkhart Indiana was thevvan conversion capital of the US while the craze lasted. I remember new plants sprang up in the cornfields to turn acres of bare bones domestic vans into rolling velour palaces. A lot of money was made turning stripper vans into conversion vans in a 40 mile radius of Elkhart.

20+ years later you can still see abandoned enormous pole barn type buildings dotting the landscape surrounded by acres of unpaved parking that used to hold the before and after product. Since it did not take a lot of capital or skill to design and build these creations a lot of people got into the business (upholster the walls, carpet the floor, install a couple windows and bolt in some captains chairs – not rocket science) and when the bubble burst they just shut the doors.

A non-extended length van is a lot easier to park than a Sexpedition due to better visibility out the front and the sharper steering angle. The entry height isn’t any worse than most SUVs, in fact it’s better due to the “hidden” running boards. Plus it’s way better for hauling kids as you can all enter through one door, strap the kids in the car seat and walk to the driver’s seat inside out of the weather. You can also make good on the “do you want me to pull this thing over and knock some heads threat” easier in a full size van than a SUV.

The foot wells on the Chev and Dodges are pretty much non-existent but the Fords aren’t all that bad.

When I was a very young man, I worked at the local Oldsmobile-Toyota-GMC dealer. It was 1981-1982. I worked on the wash rack and parts dept. Among my jobs was washing the cars/trucks for delivery. The dealership had some custom vans that were Mark III conversions. I remember after sitting in the hot central Florida sun the chemicals coming out of the upholstery would take your breath and trigger a near asthma attack.

I’d still take a minivan over these any day. I’ve had a Mazda MPV for years, one of the early RWD versions, not the later FWD. Much easier to work on than a full-size van, I’ve also had a 1979 E-150 Chateau Wagon. There is no way I’d have another truck as a daily driver.

I drive a 2000 Chevy Express 1500 conversion, daily driver. I wanted a large, safe vehicle. I doesn’t have a ton of airbags but it does have mass, which is big in p=mv. Bought it over a pickup. I installed a bench seat in the middle for my 3 kids. Use the rear to haul cargo, protected from weather. I figure I paid a quarter the cost of a crew cab pickup. I get 16-17 city mpg and 19-20 highway. I have been up to 23 mpg highway over 500 miles.